The present invention relates to a fluid level measuring device With an armless float particularly adapted for an irregularly shaped gas tank of a vehicle which is slidably mounted to an elongated mounting pole, fixed to the top of a gas tank at one end thereof and extending to the bottom of the tank at the other, and can move up due to the buoyancy of the fluid in the tank and drop down due to its own weight. A PC board is engaged with a receiving groove on the mounting pole. A float is provided with a pair of copper points, connected to each other end to end, that are in slidable abutment against the PC board. On the PC board there is disposed an elongated conductive circuit path, and a plurality of disconnected or spaced T shaped conductive units that are consecutively bridged to each other at one end thereof by a series connected resistors and are still kept open looped at the other end thereof. The two copper points one of which is in contact with the elongated conductive circuit path and the other thereof is in selective contact with one of the conductive units so as to bridge the series connected resistors and the elongated conductive circuit path into a closed loop with the grounded mounting pole. As a result of the variation of the sum of the series connected resistors with which one of the two copper points is in selective contact, depending on the fluid level of the gas tank, the indication pointer of the gauge is moved accordingly. A typical prior art fluid level measuring device with a float arm, widely adopted in the gas tank of a common vehicle, is illustrated in FIG. 1. The float arm is provided with a float 101 secured to the end of a pivotal extension arm 10 which is equipped a conductive copper point at the other end thereof. The extension arm pivotally fixed to a mounting frame is in slidable abutment against a curved detection unit 20 having a windingly placed resistor wire disposed thereon by way of the conductive copper point whereby as the float is pivotally lifted up due to buoyancy of the fluid in the tank or moves downward with the dropping of the level of the fluid due to its own weight, the conductive copper point will be in contact with the resistor line at different points accordingly, resulting in the variation of the resistance of the detection unit. Thus, a pointer of a meter under the influence of the variation of the resistance of the detection unit is able to indicate the level of the fluid in the tank accordingly.
The prior art float arm mounted to a conventional fluid level measuring device has some disadvantages in practical use that are given as below:
1. The float arm takes up relatively large space. PA1 2. The mounting of the float arm is relatively time consuming and material wasting. PA1 3. The indication pointer of the associated gauge is seriously fluctuated back and forth when the vehicle is travelling on a bumpy road as a result of the length of the arm amplifying the degree of the fluctuation of the fluid in the tank. PA1 4. The addition of a float arm makes the mounting of the fluid level measuring device relatively difficult in one aspect, and the pivot arm limits the mounting of the same only in a specific position whereat the arm can pivot freely in the gas tank in another aspect.
To overcome the above cited problems, the present inventor has designed a fluid level indicating device with an armless float that is free of the above cited disadvantages.